Text from the Plaque
Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, John Erb (1764-1832) was a Mennonite of Swiss ancestry. He came to Upper Canada in 1805, acquired 7500 acres of land from the German Land Company, and settled on the site of Preston. The following year he built a sawmill and in 1807 a grist-mill around which the community grew. The numerous descendants of John Erb and his relatives have played an important role in the development of Waterloo County. This town, known as "Cambridge Mills", was renamed after Preston, England.
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